Do Or Die's Belo Gets 10 Years For Murder

Rapper pleads guilty in fatal shooting By Kayce T. Ataiyero Tribune staff reporter The career of a member of a popular Chicago rap group was put on hold Thursday when he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of an acquaintance in a dispute over drug sales. Darnell Smith, 35, who goes by the name "Belo," is one-third of Do or Die, a pioneering hip-hop group from the West Side best known for its breakthrough single "Po Pimp" from its 1996 platinum album "PictureThis." The group has sold more than three million albums and has worked with other Chicago artists, including superstar rapper Kanye West and R&B star R. Kelly. Smith was charged in the November 2002 murder of Raynard Pinkston. Prosecutors said Smith and Pinkston got involved in a dispute a group of people was having about drug sales. During the dispute, Pinkston, 19, struck and threatened Smith, according to prosecutors. Smith then pulled out a gun and shot Pinkston, prosecutors said. Smith was originally charged with six counts of first-degree murder. As part of a plea agreement, Smith will receive a 10-year-prison sentence, of which he is likely to serve 5 years, according to Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Karen Kerbis. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 8. Kerbis said the delay in Smith's sentencing was the result of a request he made to be allowed time to arrange for the care of the children he shares with a girlfriend who was convicted earlier this year of witness tampering in Smith's case. Felicia Hamilton, 34, of Forest Park was charged with two felony counts each of communication with a witness and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors said there were at least eight witnesses to the shooting who had given written statements and testified before a grand jury. Many of them later recanted their stories. Four witnesses said that they got paid off, and prosecutors said at the time that they suspected that all the witnesses had been paid off. A mother of one witness told police she was paid $1,000, prosecutors said. Another witness, who was paid $500, told police about the payoff and wore a wire in a meeting with Hamilton in which she told him "not to come to trial," according to prosecutors. Hamilton was convicted in April and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Smith recently launched a solo career, releasing his debut album "The Truth" last year. "kataiyero@tribune.com" Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-smith_weboct12,0,1368301.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout chicagotribune.com